InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos ❯ Training ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, YuYu Hakusho (As much as I'd love to) or any of the anime/manga characters.

Warnings: Mild Language

Training

 

Darkness slowly lifted from Kagome's mind. As she slid her eyes open, they were assaulted with blindingly painful light.

She groaned and rolled onto her side, trying to get away from the light, but it didn't seem to be working.

“Sorry. I gave you some pain-killers, but we couldn't heal you,” Yusuke said from somewhere nearby.

“You couldn't heal me?”

“There wasn't anything for me to heal,” Yukina's quiet voice said, practically whispering.

“Oh… I was hoping that it was just the demon getting a last attack in.”

“What the hell, Kagome!? You were ripping the thing apart!”

“I was not! I only took off his arm,” she defended.

“You don't call that ripping it apart!?”

“No. I've seen demons quarter people. That is ripping something apart.

“What's `quartering' someone?” Yukina asked.

Kagome slowly opened her eyes again to find the light slightly more tolerable. She looked around to find herself in a wide room with Yusuke and Yukina sitting on chairs nearby.

“You really don't want to go into it,” Kagome sighed.

“I think I do,” Yusuke bit out. “What the hell is quartering!?”

At that point, Kagome watched Kurama walk in with wide eyes.

“Who's talking about quartering?”

“She is! She won't tell me what the hell it is, but she thinks it makes tearing an arm off look tame.”

“Well I should say so,” Kurama said, staring at Kagome. “How exactly do you know what quartering is?”

“I saw demons doing it once.”

“That is a rather old practice. I highly doubt you've seen demons that brutal,” he challenged.

“Well, the actual act of quartering didn't have a name, I think…”

“It was named in 1814,” Kurama challenged condescendingly.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Can someone tell me what the hell quartering is!?”

“Perhaps young Yukina shouldn't be listening to this conversation,” Kurama said, feeling the same way as Kagome about giving little children, even demon ones, this kind of information.

“I'll go see if anyone wants tea,” she said, quickly leaving the room.

As soon as they were sure she was out of earshot, Kurama closed the door and sighed.

“Quartering was a vulgar act that was used as a way to punish traitors in the early 1800s.”

“That's not an answer!”

“Yusuke, this will give you nightmares,” Kagome sighed. “I still have them.”

“I doubt it!”

“They cut off your four limbs and beheaded you,” Kurama sighed, making Yusuke's jaw drop.

“They called it quartering because they were, in fact, separating the body's quarters, along with the head,” Kagome finished, making Yusuke's head snap to her.

“Are you serious!?”

“Yeah,” she sighed.

“And you saw a demon doing that!? I don't think I've even met a demon that brutal,” Yusuke exclaimed.

“That's because the kind of demons with such small intelligence are quickly destroyed in the Makai,” Kurama said, eyeing Kagome warily. “And I don't think you're lying about seeing a demon do it, either.”

“I'm not,” Kagome sighed. “Did Yukina say if I'd be able to move around any time soon?” she asked Yusuke.

“She said that you weren't even going to be able to get up for another two days, so who knows,” Yusuke said with a shrug.

“Hey… is she related to Hiei or something?”

Their eyes flew wide open and she shrugged.

“Well, he's got ice powers in him, and she's an ice maiden. I was just curious.”

“If Hiei knows you know, he might wipe your brain or something, so be careful,” Yusuke groaned.

“She is his sister.”

“Huh… That makes sense. Well, if he wants to keep it a secret, that's fine by me.”

Kagome moved her body experimentally and found that everything worked like it was supposed to. She slowly slid her legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand up. And immediately fell backward.

“Ugh… I guess that I'll be here for a while…”

“What happened, anyway? Why'd you suddenly black out?”

She pulled herself back into a lying down position and looked over at Yusuke.

“Well, it's kind of hard to explain… Think of my youki like a big, rabid dog. It's an accurate picture. I gave it a little room so I could get rid of the demon, and it took the freedom to try to strangle my miko qi with the leash. And, since both energies are in my body, it choked me, too.”

“I believe you need to train to control your youki, then.”

She glared at Kurama and suddenly remembered that she didn't like him.

“Hey, you should know something, fox boy,” she said, bringing his full attention to her. “I beat you. I barely used my power to do it. So believe me when I say that if you even touch my children, I'll put you in a coma.”

“Yes, well, at the moment, you can barely move, so threatening me isn't really effective.”

“But I can and will kick your ass,” Yusuke said, surprising Kurama. “You're usually the calm one, but when a kit's involved, you've lost your head.”

“Yes, well, I don't particularly like the idea that a kit is being treated as a-”

Suddenly, there was a razor-sharp nail at his side, despite Kagome having not moved from her spot.

“Don't say pet,” she bit out. “I love Shippo as my son, and if you insinuate, ever again, that it's anything less, you won't breathe again.”

Kurama's watched with wide eyes as the claw dissolved and turned to ash.

“That's a cool trick,” Yusuke said, watching as the claws turned back to nails on Kagome's right hand.

Kagome lay back down, panting.

“It's a trick I learned from a demon while in that castle,” she said with a shrug. “But I can't hold it for very long, and it hurts like hell if I keep it up too long. Would you mind if I got some sleep?”

Yusuke quickly vacated the room, dragging a frozen Kurama with him…

 

Yusuke and Kurama quickly walked to the temple, asking everyone to gather there. They sent the children to Kagome's room, and everyone started to come once they were gone.

“I'm going to guess that you're worried about having Kagome here,” Genkai said as a way of greeting.

“She's dangerous,” Kurama said as soon as everyone was with him.

“No doubt. And the Reikai is looking for her,” Hiei added.

“She's a student of mine. Unlike the dimwit, she can keep herself under control for the most part.”

“Not to bash her, but she nearly decapitated Kurama,” Yusuke sighed. “I don't want to screw her over, or anything, but we need to do something.”

“Not to mention that I'm unable to heal her wounds efficiently. That's very rare.”

They looked at Yukina, who was staring at the ground.

“Genkai, what did you teach her?” Yusuke asked suddenly, making the group stop to listen.

“I taught her the basics of the Spirit Wave.”

“She doesn't have spirit energy,” Kurama sighed, frustration lacing his voice.

“I'm aware of that. I said the basics, not the actual thing. She had holy energy, similar to what Sensui used. I taught her to manipulate it into an attack, like Yusuke's spirit gun. It took a whole ten months of training less than the dimwit to teach her, too.”

“So… Kagome knows how to use the Spirit Wave?” Yusuke reiterated.

A sudden influx of energy appeared before Genkai could answer and the group turned as a whole to find a tall woman floating near them.

“Hey guys!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

“What's up, Botan?”

“Oh, quite a bit, actually! It's been four days since you were sent to find that miko, and King Enma is not happy.”

“So the toddler's giving us more orders?” Yusuke groaned.

“No. I thought that you should know current events,” she said with a frown. “Actually, I'm here so I don't get in His Majesty's line of fire,” she whispered secretively, though everyone heard her. “So, Lady Genkai, do you mind if I stay here until things cool down up there?”

“Whatever,” the woman sighed. “Now then, dimwit, listen carefully. Yes, she knows how to use the Spirit Wave. So I suggest that you keep Kurama away from her if he wants to live.”

With that, she turned and disappeared around a corner in the temple.

“Who knows how to use the Spirit Wave?” Botan asked curiously.

“Nobody important,” Hiei sneered. “I'm going.”

And then, his form disappeared, leaving Botan to eye the others suspiciously.

“Yusuke, who can use the Spirit Wave? I thought only you and Lady Genkai could use it.”

Just then, a sudden increase in youki poured through the temple and without a word, everyone ran to the guest room, where they found Kagome tossing and turning violently. The children were watching with wide, hopeless-looking eyes.

 

“Whoa, what kinda' nightmare makes you explode with power?”

As soon as Kuwabara spoke, Kagome shot up, her eyes wild and alert. After she took in her surroundings, she sighed and ran a hand over her forehead.

“Who's she?”

Yusuke jumped when he remembered Botan's presence and tried to come up with a satisfactory lie.

“Who are you?” Kagome responded, taking in the blue-haired woman's appearance.

Bright pink eyes blinked slowly as the woman walked over to Kagome's side.

“I'm Botan,” she said with a bright smile, extending her hand.

“Umm… Kagome,” she answered unsurely, shaking the extended hand. “What exactly are you?”

Kagome inspected the woman's appearance slowly, trying to come up with an answer to her own question, but couldn't come up with one.

“I'm what you would call a Grim Reaper!”

“Huh… So you collect souls, then?”

“That's right!”

“Were you around about… 530 years ago?”(1)

“Umm… The Warring States Era? Yes, I was… That was a really bad time for shinigami… I remember back then, there was this group of five people that got killed protecting a miko… They said they wanted to be reincarnated, if I remember right.”

Botan didn't understand the look of hope in Kagome's eyes, and grew even more confused when she spoke again.

“Those five. There wasn't, by any chance, an inu hanyo with them, was there?”

“As a matter of fact, there was! I remember him! He was so rude!” she said with a pout. “He said that he wanted to be reincarnated or he'd kill me!”

Kagome chuckled at that, her eyes sliding closed as her still-fresh memories rushed to her.

“Yeah, that sounds like him…”

Botan's eyes widened at that.

“Umm… Excuse me, Kagome, but you are aware of the fact that we can't possibly talking about someone you know, right?”

“You would think so, huh? So, what happened with their souls?”

“Well, let's see… I believe the hanyo's brother passed on to Heaven, and the two humans were reincarnated to find each other for the rest of the Earth's existence. The wolf demon was reincarnated to always watch over his pack.”

“And the hanyo?” Kagome asked brightly. Her hope of a peaceful existence for her love died with the grim expression on the Reaper's face.

“The hanyo was stuck in limbo…”

“What!?”

Botan jumped at Kagome's tone, but quickly went on.

“Well, there was some kind of complication. Something about promising his soul to Hell, but he would be able to move onto Heaven for protecting someone important… They stuck him in limbo while they thought of what to do… I think he's still there, too.”

Nobody seemed to notice that tightness in Kagome's muscles, or the way her jaw was clenched.

“I think you guys should probably leave,” Shippo said, watching as her anger started to rise.

“Did I say something?” Botan asked, finally noticing the white-knuckled grip Kagome had on her thighs.

“What's the matter, Kagome? We're talking about a hanyo that died over five hundred years ago.”

“His name was Inuyasha,” she said quietly.

“Yes! That was his name! But how do you know that?” Botan asked warily.

A bitter laugh left Kagome, and she hit the wall. It seemed like a frustrated tap, but the wall where she hit practically exploded, making the group jump.

“I'm the reason those five died,” she said, her tone cold and edged like a razor.

“With all due respect, are you okay?” Botan asked, eyeing Kagome warily. “They died to protect a miko from a hanyo more than five hundred years ago.”

“Yeah, I'm aware of that. Stop bringing it up,” she bit out, starting to stand. “Where's my sword?”

“It was starting to attack anyone that got near you, so we put a barrier on it,” Kuwabara said quickly.

Kagome looked around to find her sword hanging in the air, and walked over to it. As she reached, tendrils of power shot out, burning her. Regardless, her hand closed around the sheath and she pulled it from the barrier.

Then, her lack of movement from before caught up to her and she quickly pulled the sword, stabbing it into the ground as a way to keep herself upright.

“WHOA! Did anyone else just see a freaking huge sword come out of that tiny piece of wood!?” Kuwabara exclaimed, looking at the massive blade warily.

“Momma!”

Kagome's head turned and she found Shippo running to her. She steadied herself and sheathed the blade, panting at the exertion.

“I'm fine… Shippo…”

“What kind of demon are you?” Botan inquired, looking at the sword. “That sword has a lot of old youki in it, and it's strong.”

“What I am isn't important,” Kagome panted. “Right now, I need to go kill a demon so that Inuyasha can move on.”

She began to pull the sword out again when a small hand caught her wrist.

“Don't! You know that you'll lose if you go now!”

Kagome sighed and, using the sword as a crutch, quickly moved back to the bed.

“You weren't a demon until recently, so that means you weren't around to know this Inuyasha person,” Kurama reasoned, standing protectively next to the Reaper.

“I wasn't a demon. I was a priestess that, until very recently, went to the Sengoku Jidai to help my friends fight against a powerful hanyo. Except, the hanyo was by all accounts weak, on his own, so he had to use dirty traps to catch people off-guard.”

Nobody missed the hateful bitterness in her voice, and she looked up at them.

“So there! That's the big secret. I practically lived in the Warring States Era for the last five years(2). So yeah, I knew Inuyasha, and I'm in a bad mood that these people you work for seem to have put him in limbo when he deserves to move on.”

As she spoke, her voice had risen, and the entire room was astounded at the rage that had been boiling under the surface. A hand gently gripped her shoulder and she pulled Shippo to her, smiling slightly.

“Sorry, Shippo. I needed to let some things out… Anyway, as soon as I'm healed enough, I'm going to reverse this damn curse and then, I'm going to kill Naraku.”

Botan stared at her and slowly, her eyes widened in understanding.

“You're the girl they were sent to rescue! Why aren't you in Reikai?”

“Your bosses want a powerful weapon. I'm not about to hand it over… As to why I'm here, I'm still a little confused about that…”

“I brought you here because you were my friend not so long ago,” Yusuke said quietly. “I didn't think our real reason for being sent there was as good as it sounded, so I didn't take you back.”

“Huh… Thank you, I guess… So that answers that.”

“Yusuke,” Botan said in a scolding tone, “you know that Reikai isn't evil!”

“Regardless of good or evil, King Enma would most likely resort to any means to have his way,” Kurama sighed.

“I would end up dead quickly. I don't know who King Enma is, but unless he's as cold and cruel as Naraku, he'd have to resort to torture bad enough to kill me to get me to tell him anything about the jewel.”

“You must feel strongly about protecting the Shikon, then,” Botan sighed. “I don't know you, but those humans mentioned a powerful, pure miko that protected something powerful before they moved on. I don't know what exactly King Enma will do, but if you don't try to do anything too dangerous, and you lay as low as you can, I can probably keep Reikai from finding you, at least for a short time…”

Kagome looked the woman up and down and a warm smile came over her, despite her still-simmering anger.

“Thank you, Botan. I should be healed soon enough.”

“You ain't going anywhere without training yourself,” Yusuke said quickly. Kagome frowned, but offered no argument as Botan vanished.

“Fine,” she sighed after a long moment of silence…

 

A/N:

Inu- dog

Hanyo- half-demon

Shinigami- death god (Grim Reaper)

(1)- This story is taking place in 2008; read the history below to understand.

(2)- Kagome's 20 in this story, and she was 15 in the beginning of Inuyasha. I'm stretching the timeline quite a bit, but that's the fun in writing fanfictions, right?

Okay, there's chapter 2! I enjoyed writing this chapter, but next chapter is when the real drama starts! I hope you're enjoying so far! Tell me what you think! And if you want to know some historical facts pertaining to what they're talking about in the beginning, look below! See you next time!

 

(Correctional History) If you look at history, the Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States Era, happened from 1467-1478. Assuming that Inuyasha took place in 2000, that means the Warring States was, even if it occurred at the very end of the Sengoku Jidai, 522 years in the past. It's not a big difference, but it is a difference. Not that it's a bad thing, I love Inuyasha. I just don't like inaccuracies.

Quartering was an act by the British that was used as a punishment for traitors in 1814 AD. And yes, I realize knowing this random information makes me a huge nerd, but it's important to this chapter.